CLIPPERS -at- LAKERS - 12/16 - Thoughts and :-)) Ratings

[DancingBarry]

Bynum v. Kaman... The battle of the L.A. centers.

Okay, maybe that's not very dramatic, but you got to look for something going into this game. The Clippers, of course, have been destroyed by injuries. The Lakers also had an injury subplot, themselves. Would Kobe play after straining his groin in the last game?

Yes, and 32 points later from No. 24 -- so much for the subplot.

Back to the battle of the bigmen. Bynum shut down Kaman and the interior attack right from the start. His length gave Kaman all kinds of problems, Bynum finishing the night with 6 blocks. "Their post up game is normally successful, but I thought Andrew did a good job on him in the first quarter," Phil said. Bynum also had a number of highlight offensive plays and finished with 14 points and 9 boards. Some quality, two-way impact play from the youngster.

Excellent start and and excellent finish tonight. The Lakers had a couple of bookend quarters, winning the first 29-15 and the fourth 31-16. Sasha came in and killed the Clippers with 14 points in the fourth.

The wounded Clippers shot 39 percent to the Lakers 54 percent. The Lakers had 30 assists.


Kobe -- -- Before the game, Vitti said he'd take no credit for getting Kobe ready. Kobe's a gamer. I don't think you can find a tougher player mentally. Defensively we started him on Ross, which helped a lot. Kobe also avoided attacking off the dribble and looked to work the perimeter. "He knows how to play hurt and he knows how to play sick and he did it again for us," Luke said. Lots of pumpfakes and a few stepthroughs, but Kobe never tried to do anything that might aggravate his injury. Excellent job. We may have to try to hide him defensively as much as possible until he recovers. So far, so good. The Stats: Kobe scored 32 points on 11-22 shooting (2-6 from three, 8-9 from the line), 8 rebounds, 3 assists with 4 turnovers and 1 steal in 36 minutes. He was an absurd +31. The Action: He missed a 20-footer on his first attempt. He hit a baseline turnaround. He drained a wing jumper. Feeling it, he took a quick wing three off the high pinch post and sank it. Heat check three and he missed short. He missed a jumper, got it backed and missed a tough step through with his left. He pumpfaked Mobley into the air, stepped through and banked. He missed off the glass at the end of the quarter (Bynum was ticked he didn't get the return feed off the screen when a smaller player matched up against him). He had 11 points on 5-10 shooting in the first quarter. He posted up Maggette, got hit on the arm as he spun and sank the And-1 15-footer, he missed the FT. He missed a wing jumper. He swished a stepback wing jumper from the weakside. Kobe tried to throw a pass off the glass to Bynum who was being fronted, Bynum wasn't ready for that (that would be a good play if they were both on the same page). He got two men into the air from the three line with 1 second left in the half, he earned three FTs and made all three. Drew deflected the inbounds and Kobe missed a heave at the buzzer. Kobe had 18 points on 7-14 shooting (1-3 from three, 3-4 from the line) in the first half. He missed a three. Sensational concentration, he turned on the baseline, got nailed on the swing through, but still muscled the And-1 up and in from 12 feet out (your No. 6 NBA TV play of the night), he made the FT. He missed a fallaway with the shotclock going off, but we got it back. He created from the wing with the shotclock down and he earned FTs, he made both. He missed a three, short, then made a silly foul in transition to give up FTs. He had Thornton switched on him, he pumpfaked the rook in the air and drew the easy FTs twenty feet from the hoop, he made both. He missed a jumper short, got it back, tried to dribble in a crowd and lost it. He dunked (softly) when Farmar found him all alone. He faked the handoff, spun and hit the fade on the baseline. Kobe was joking with Bynum about something after he sank a 30-foot three from the wing as Bynum was coming over to screen for him. The Lakers pulled out to a big lead and Phil then rested him for the remainder of the fourth.

Lamar -- -- Tale of two halves. Good D on Maggette in the first half (although Maggette said he twisted his ankle and let it affect him). And on the other end, Maggette had issues with Lamar trying to match up in the post for a couple possessions. Maggette had 2 points in the first half and Lamar had 10. The tables were turned in the second half as Lamar had 2 points and Maggette had 25, getting 21 in the third on a ton of trips to the line. Again, Lamar seemed lost in the offense. He needed to post up Maggette and attack Paul Davis off the dribble. When he did, he cause problems. When he didn't he gave them a break by hanging out on the perimeter. Lamar did have a few nice off-the-ball sequences, but still seemed unable to work the offense to play to his strengths. The Stats: He scored 12 points on 3-8 shooting (1-2 from three, 5-8 from the line), he had 7 boards, 4 assists, 1 steal and 2 turnovers in 31 minutes. The Action: He missed an open 16-footer. He sank an 18-footer on the next possession. He attacked Davis on the baseline and drew FTs, he made both. He swished a catch-and-shoot wing three. He drew FTs on a baseline cut away from the ball (he might have scored the reverse if he used his right hand instead), he made one FT. He had 8 points on 2-3 shooting. First time in the post against Maggette and he scored easily. Next time down, LO posts him up and draws a foul. Lamar had 10 points at the half and 5 boards, Maggette had 2 points, both played 18 minutes. He missed a three, we got it back, the Clippers denied his drive left and he lost the ball going right. Nice dive cut away from the ball and he drew a foul on Maggette. He bricked a long jumper badly. He bricked another jumper against Davis. In transition, he took the outlet and drew a foul on Davis, nearly got the And-1 to drop, he made one FT. He lost grip on a pass after another nice cut away from the ball, turnover. He attacked from the wing off the kickout by Farmar and drew a foul on Kaman, he made one FT. He passed on a lane to his left, got it back and faded on a jumper with Kaman several feet off him and he missed badly.

DFish -- -- Quiet game and reduced minutes as some foul trouble plagued him. Big difference from last year in terms of our guard depth and play. The team didn't skip a beat and Farmar got extended run. The Stats: He scored 4 points on 1-3 shooting (0-2 from three, 2-2 from the line), 5 assists and 4 fouls in just 15 minutes. The Action: Lost the dribble on first possession, then found Luke in transition on the next one for a layup. He drew FTs on a jumper on the next possession, he made both. He hit a wing jumper off one dribble. He missed a three from the sideline. He ran the high wing two-man game with Bynum and lobbed to him for the dunk. He picked up his second foul with 4:41 left in the first and had to sit. He missed a wide open three straight away. Fish had just 2 points on 0-2 shooting, but had 5 assists in the first half. He swished a long sideline jumper with his toe on the line. He picked up his fourth foul reaching on Kaman in the post. He went to the bench and didn't return.

Bynum -- -- He's been stringing together some superb games...with some sensational plays. I was really looking forward to this matchup and am looking forward to Bynum's games in general right now. He's breaking out...little by little. I've said since we drafted him, "end of third year, start of fourth...end of third year, start of fourth..." It sure seems like he's going to hit that. He just needs to get a bit stronger and more consistent in the post. That's when I expect him to give us the consistent impact play. Tonight, he was certainly a two-way impact bigman out there. He shut down the post game early and anchored the paint well. And on the other end had some more ridiculously good finishes. His teammates teased him about needing to come up with a better celebration after a huge throwdown. (We're creating a monster.) Ever since we drafted him, the phrase "Sky is the limit" has been echoed by Phil, Mitch and even myself. Before the game, Kobe now added, "He can be as good as he wants to be." That's the way it is with Drew. How good, how fast depends on him. He still has plenty of weaknesses, but he's taking them out one by one. Bynum actually had a couple Shaq-like moments (just glimpses) in this game, which I highlighted below. The Stats: He scored 14 points on 7-9 shooting, grabbed 9 boards, swatted 6 shots, dished 3 assists and had 4 fouls in 31 minutes. He was a +17. The Action: Up high for the board on the first defensive stand, looked like he got a piece of a shot on the second defensive stand. He challenged several Kaman shots well, then finally rejecting him off the glass when he tried to go to his left...then on the other end, Bynum took the entry, faked right and jumphooked left off the glass (been waiting for him to do that this season, that needs to be one of his bread and butter shots. It's one of Shaq's money shots and is tough to defend). He rolled off the screen on the two-man with Fish and dunked in the alley-oop. Kaman goes 0-7 on single coverage, until Bynum has to leave him to challenge dribble penetration and Kaman gets the tip-in, his first score. Bynum had 4 points on 2-2 shooting and 3 blocks in the first quarter. Kaman hit a jumper over him, Bynum went back at him in the post on the other end, pivoting around him for a short one at the front of the rim. Damn nice play, grabbing the ball in traffic, spinning at high speed, taking contact and finishing the And-1, wow...he missed the FT, though. He got stripped going up for a dunk after Kobe found him. He missed the FT line jumper out of the timeout (interesting play call). He rejected Frahm's drive easily. Kaman tried to fallaway and got swatted by Bynum on the next attempt. Kaman made two shots on Bynum, both jumpers (also had the tip in when Bynum left him). Kaman was 5-14 in the first half for 12 points, Mihm gave up half of those. Bynum had 8 points on 4-6 shooting, 3 boards and 5 blocks in the first half. Bynum hit Luke cutting for layup on the first possession of the second half. LO on Kaman, Bynum helped and blocked the shot, but fouled trying to get the board away from another man. Excellent effort getting an offensive board away from Kaman on a Kobe miss, he then reset the offense. He got rooted out of rebound position by Kaman and he gave up an And-1 putback to get his third foul. Shaq-like sequence when Jordan attacked the baseline, drew the D and threw it up high to Bynum who hammered it down and tried to rip the rim off the basket (Your No. * NBA TV play of the day). He took the post feed, tried to thread the needle on a pass but it was deflected, but Bynum pulled it off the floor out of the crowd, took a dribble and threw down another huge dunk down the middle of the lane. He picked up his fourth foul with 3:36 left in the third after challenging Maggette, getting the miss and the board, then getting stripped and having to contest Kaman. Wow, great touch, cutting down the lane trailing the play, Vlad found him with the pass, a man stepped in front of Bynum to take the charge, but Drew avoided the foul and threw up and in the soft shot with superb concentration before falling to the ground in a mass of arms and legs.

Luke -- -- Luke needed a good shooting game like nobody else on this team. Finally, it came. Maybe he can get on a roll -- any kind of roll -- in a positive direction. He didn't miss from the floor tonight and went for a season high 15 points. Defensively, he started on Maggette, but they moved him to Davis. He floated around on a couple different players. The Stats: He scored 15 on 6-6 shooting (3-3 from three), had 4 boards, 2 assists and no turnovers in 15 minutes. The Action: He scored on the break when Fish found him leaking out. He body checked Maggette on help D for a foul. He found Farmar on an inbounds for a reverse. Mental mistake, why sag on D off a shooter weakside when Bynum has been handling his business in the post, gave up a three. Luke got back the three a couple possessions later, swishing a wide open kickout. He posted up Frahm, spun and powered a layup over him. He had 7 points on 3-3 shooting in the first half. He scored a layup, cutting off Bynum in the post to start the second half. His man sagged off and he drained a long three straight away. He drained another three when the Lakers worked the ball around to him. Nice hands, stripping Maggette at the top of the key.

Farmar -- -- With Fish in foul trouble, Farmar got a season high in minutes, going for 27 (1 short of his career high). He was average scoring-wise, missing multiple times from behind the arc...but he played with good energy and seemed to keep the Clippers on their heels. The Stats: He scored 7 points on 3-9 shooting (just 1-5 from three), had 3 assists and 1 foul in 27 minutes. The Action: He scored a reverse layup off the inbounds play. He attacked, got contact and missed with his left with no call. He swished a catch-and-shoot wing three. He missed a sideline three. He turned the corner off the dribble along the baseline and threw up high for Bynum to tear down the rim. He missed a three short. He was called for a flagrant one, trying to wrap Maggette up on a breakaway. He missed the baseline jumper. He lost the dribble, got it back and fed Kobe for the dunk. He worked off the Mihm wing screen, hesitated, stepped on the gas and reversed around Kaman. He missed a wide open wing three.

Radmanovic -- -- He shaved the head again, keeping Syberian psycho look going. Okay game from Vlad. Looked like he tried to do a little more midrange damage in this one versus hanging out behind the arc. He also moved the ball well and led the team with 6 assists. The Stats: He scored 6 points on 3-7 shooting, dished the 6 assists and added 4 boards in 19 minutes. The Action: He found LO cutting baseline for FTs. He missed a tip in. He swished a baseline jumper when Sasha found him. He missed a three in transition. He upfaked and attacked the lane, hitting a fade 10 feet away. He airballed trying to create off the dribble with the shotclock low. Horrible post entry pass that went right out of bounds. He dunked when Crit hit him under the hoop after a Sasha steal.

Mihm -- -- Poor first stint by Mihm tonight, getting abused in the post and worthless on the offensive end. But he held ground a little better in his second stint. The Stats: He scored 2 points on 1-3 shooting, grabbed 3 boards and had 3 fouls in 15 minutes. The Action: He couldn't handle an Ariza pass that hit him in the chest, turnover and score the other way. He gave up an And-1 to Kaman. Kaman again with an easy jumphook. Mihm missed a jumphook on the other end. Back in with 3:36 left in the third and a 13-point lead (the Clippers cut that in half). He swished a tough fade in the lane with Kaman on him. He missed a long baseline jumper. Good D, holding his ground on a couple possession against Kaman in the post.

Turiaf -- -- With Mihm getting the backup C minutes and the Lakers staying small at the SF, Ronny got the night off. He only came in late into garbage time. The Stats: He didn't score on 2 attempts and had 1 board in his 2 minutes. The Action: In with 2 minutes left in the game, he missed a quick jumper. He stepped out beyond the arc, took the swing pass, rose up for the glorious attempt at a three and...clanked. He grinned sheepishly on the way back down court.

Ariza -- -- Some chopped up minutes, hard to get in sync, but he somehow managed to put a few stats together. The Stats: He scored 7 points on 3-4 shooting, had 3 boards, 1 assist and 2 fouls in 12 minutes. The Action: He missed a high arching fallaway jumper from the wing. He attacked the baseline and scored the And-1 reverse layup, he made the FT. Wow, he must have done something from behind Maggette, but it sure looked like Maggette completely fumbled the ball into the hoop on one play. Ariza hit Dickau from behind to give up a lucky And-1 jumper that banked in. Back in, good challenge on Maggette's drive. He pulled-up off the dribble from the wing and sank the 17-footer.

Vujacic -- -- Let's bring out the dancing tomato again to mark that Sasha had another big night. All of Sasha's 14 points came in the fourth quarter. Some difference-maker minutes from him, for sure. He drained a few shots, but also was D'ing up better and grabbing boards on the defensive end. The Laker went on a run and put the Clips to sleep with Sasha's impact fourth. He got to close out the game. The Stats: He scored his 14 on 5-7 shooting (3-4 from three, 1-1 from the line), he had 3 boards, 2 assists and 3 fouls in 19 minutes. The Action: He found Vlad after attacking from the post for a baseline jumper. He missed a turnaround. He threw the ball away under the hoop. He pumpfaked to get the fly by, then stepped in and hit the shorter jumper. He was left alone at the top of the key and drained the open three, forcing a Clipper timeout. He missed a three with the shotclock low (this after dribbling on his knees, then bouncing a pass off Mihm and getting it back). Kobe gave Sasha the tech FT and Sasha sank it (Stu then says that kind of unselfish little play can pay dividends)...on that same possession Sasha drains the wing three, there you go. Nice switch on D on the other end and he forces Thornton into a travel. Out of a timeout, the Lakers swung the ball around to find him in the corner and he hit a three (one of these was later called a two). Working off the screen, he quickly rose up and drained the wing three. He swiped a pass in the backcourt, then no-looked to Crit (totally fooled the defender, now Sasha is just turning them into the Washington Generals), Crit then fed Vlad for the score.

Crittenton -- -- He got 6 minutes of run, but didn't do much with it. The Stats: He didn't score or take an attempt, he had 1 assist and 1 board. The Action: In midway through the fourth quarter for Farmar. Sasha stole the ball, no-looked to Crit, who then fed Vlad for the dunk for his assist.

Phil -- -- BShaw wearing the shades on the bench. Maybe he wanted to hide, having to sit next to that stache under Rambis's nose. Actually, he had retinopathy surgery, not a case of the Jack Nicholsons... Clippers went scoreless for nearly 5 minutes at the end of the quarter, a 13-0 Laker run. Lakers lead 29-15, doing it on both ends... Lakers start a Mihm, Vlad, Ariza, Sasha, Farmar unit to start the second quarter. Mihm looked horrible on both ends... 57-44 lead at the half. For some reason the coaches say they want to help more on Kaman in the post. Drew doesn't need any help... Maggette ate the Lakers up in the third from the FT line. He also dribbled the ball off his foot and into the backcourt and he heaved a one-hander 50 feet off the glass to cut the lead to just 82-76. Maggette had 21 points in the third after just 2 in the first half... Phil didn't like the way the ball stopped and the offense bogged down with the first unit in that third quarter. "I tell them sometimes I can hardly wait to get the second unit on the floor, the way they are playing." True... The trio of Farmar, Sasha and Kobe on the floor to start the fourth ended up flooring the Clippers. Lots more movement and Sasha was deadly... The Clippers just didn't have enough prime-time players on the floor tonight to make it a real game...

GameFlow -- LINK -- Check out the 21-3 run in the first and the 22-6 fourth-quarter run.

[Alpha]

nice game ... kobe really impressed me the way he stayed within his capabilities... and with what he was capable of with the injury and all... incredible.

sasha was on fiya! ... and so was luke.

bynum made the clipps take notice... really nice game.


thanks db!

[Laker7]

Smokin' game from Bynum. Gave Kaman (who IMO is one of the top 10 C's in the league) fits on both ends of the court.

Only things I saw that I did not like was Lamar and Farmar settling for too many 3's.
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Darvin Ham is an idiot!

[AndrewBynum17]

I like those bynum emoticons.

[LakerFan1972]

Nice read DB.

[Siguy]

Bynum's still missing a go to offensive move, but I loved what he did today. Besides the defensive work, he was really smart about not settling for his very shaky hook shot. Instead he used his tremendous length and speed to get his hands closer to the basket and just lightly drop it in.

[- Sean -]

[DancingBarry]

[- Sean -]

DB - Yes, that's exactly what I was thinking about. Though effective in those HS games, I thought he got by mainly on size -- and being so out of shape, appeared to be more likely the next Stanley Roberts than a center to be reckoned with.

Hearing about his weight loss (and good hands) is what made me feel positive about selecting him. I was impressed after seeing him post weight loss, but then it became more about, what else can you do besides lose weight? This is basketball, show us you can play the game.

I love the conditioning (and initiative/dedication to work w/ Zarzana), but Andrew is also showing an aptitude for the game. That is also what makes the upside so huge. There are guys in great shape that can do positive things out there because of their size and conditioning - but there is a cap on their upside because they aren't really basketball players.

A big muscular guy that can't catch isn't going to finish plays. A strong dude that has no breaks and control of his body is going to mow defenders down and turn the ball over.

Throw the ball to Bynum under the rim, he'll finish a play. Sounds simple? Maybe it is, but look at all the bigs that can't do it. If Bynum is running the floor and makes it near the painted area, you can throw the ball to him w/ the expectation that he can avoid the offensive foul and get a good shot off. Again, sounds simple, but it isn't. There are so many straight-line players that you can't trust to move w/ the ball if a defender is between them and the top of the restricted area. Instant charge. Not the case w/ Bynum.

And it doesn't stop at scoring. He makes good decisions w/ the basketball. If he doesn't have a shot, he's likely not going to waste the possession. The same cannot be said for many players (look at Mihm for a comparison). Some of these guys are so amped to score, they have blinders on once they get the ball. A shot is going up. Either their greed to score or inability to handle the speed of the game will compel them to take a field goal attempt. Bynum doesn't do that. He values possesions and doesn't allow the game's speed to overwhelm him and make bad decisions w/ the ball.

There are many other good things he does, but I'll stop there.

He has weaknesses and things he can't do . Maybe he'll never be able to do them. Maybe be will. I don't know. I do know the physical and mental tools he has are sufficient for a long productful career in this league, and I'm pleased he's reached that point - from a body to a basketball player.

[rwongega]

I'd love to see Bynum put on a little more muscle and try to hone a nice FT-line jumper. He played extremely well against Kaman, who only found success against Mihm. Just needs to find an go-to offensive move and find ways to make it easier for his teammates to get him the ball. I must say Kareem has done an excellent job with Bynum. It's the kind of success that could land him a coaching job (hopefully still with us).
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http://bartsblackboard.com/files/2009/11/The-Simpsons-05x18-Burns-Heir.jpg

RIP Jonathan Tang
RIP Alex Gruenberg

Free KBCB

[TooCool]

Thanks DB Much appreciated like always! Sasha has the biggest icon!!
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[jd2k]

Bynum's Highlights. 6 Blocks + 3 Monster Dunks.

Enjoy!

http://www.vimeo.com/439027

Note: Vimeo HD videos are quite CPU intensive.

[limchrc]

Nice win. Thanks for the recap.

[8750]

thanks, DB
i'm beginning to think that i was definitely wrong with bynum... never thought that he could become so strong and motivated...
as always, kobe showed his love for the game, his pride, his terrific will-power... kobe "not caring" was the most absurd of all the absurdities i read about him...

[Sage_10]

Thanks DB!
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"You Must Be Willing To Give Up That Which Can Be Lost In Order To Gain That Which Cannot Be Lost." - FORTUNE COOKIE

[prisma8slg]

thanks DB.

I almost felt bad for Thornton because he kept biting on Kobe's pump fakes.

Bynum was spectacular. He had some great dunks. it was great to see Sasha have a positive impact on the game, particularly in the the 4th quarter when we needed. good to see Luke break out of his slump.

[VujacicFan]

Yeah! Dancing tomato!

[Rick12322]

Cool. there's nothing like getting up in the morning with a hot cup of coffee and reading DB's game recaps after a win.

I've noticed that When Farmar, Sasha and Radman are in the game the Triangle runs better, or should i say it actually runs.

[Rick12322]

I should add that I like the Sasha's activity with and without the ball.

[20,000]

[Dr. Laker]

Great, as usual.
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On Lakersground, a concern troll is someone who is a fan of another team, but pretends to be a Lakers fan with "concerns".

[Mr. EiGhTy-OnE]

[BigE32]

Thanks, DB. I agree that Luke needed a game hitting from the perimeter to boost his confidence. I hope he keeps the stroke going on the road. I like how PJ put Kobe in with the second unit to start the 4th. After the Clips had trimmed the lead to 6, I thought he helped us maintain and then extend our lead. Sasha was feeling it in the fourth quarter and helped propel us to a big cushion. I thought Mihm did a nice job in his second stint. I thought he was getting abused in the second quarter. In regards to AB, I've been telling my friends over here that wait until his third or fourth year. He really gave Kaman fits with his length. That's why I personally didn't want to trade him last year for Kidd. I agree that the sky's the limit with him. If he keeps working hard, he will improve in all areas. Nice bounce back win after we gave one away on Friday at GS.

[JM]

[maddprophet]

sasha aka "the machine"

lovin it. great game by him.

and drew showed he's gonna own kaman for many years to come. he handled him on both ends. kaman couldn't score over him, and he easily abused kaman whenever he got the ball in the post.
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